


Double Espresso

by houxvertetbruyere



Series: Coffee [2]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Fluff, Holding Hands, Kissing, M/M, Tiny bit of Angst, blink and you miss it - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:29:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27131155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/houxvertetbruyere/pseuds/houxvertetbruyere
Summary: Gaila had been insufferable all morning. She’d even pulled one of the cashiers in on it. The kid barely spoke English but even he had teased the ever loving shit out of Jim for his pre-date giddyness.Jim: My coworkers are bullying me for being so excited about our dateJim: I know it’s not very smooth to out myself like that but I amJim: Excited, that isHe had already clocked out, pulled his hoodie on, and was walking to campus when he got the response.McCoy: I’ve received my own amount of bullying for the exact same reason. Maybe we should form a committee? Make a PSA?Trektober Day 20 - High School/College AU
Relationships: James T. Kirk/Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Series: Coffee [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980295
Comments: 9
Kudos: 54
Collections: Trektober 2020





	Double Espresso

**Author's Note:**

> This one barely fits the prompt but I had to do the first date continuation from Large Americano - Two Extra Shots I was thinking about it all day.

Jim’s full of nervous energy all day. It’s a Friday, at least. No work on the weekend and plenty of time to worry about homework later. Which is great, really, because Jim kind of can’t focus. 

McCoy didn’t come in for his coffee in the morning but Jim knew he wouldn’t. The doctor texted him last night.

McCoy: Hi Jim, this is Leonard  
McCoy: Or I guess you know me as McDreamy?

Jim: lol   
Jim: Contact saved as Doctor McSexy MD, got it

McCoy: [facepalm emoji]

Jim: No? How about Try Not To Jump His Bones  
Jim: Cut right to the chase with that one

Jim: Don't even need a pic, I'll never forget who this is

McCoy: You’re completely unhinged  
McCoy: But I think I like that about you?  
McCoy: Also don’t be alarmed if I don’t come in for coffee tomorrow morning  
McCoy: It’s the first day of my vacation  
McCoy: I might try to sleep in for once

Jim: Vacation?? Never heard of her

McCoy: Hey you’re preaching to the choir  
McCoy: It’s been well over a year for me  
McCoy: Hey, I think I know a place for dinner  
McCoy: Any dietary things I don't know? allergies?

Jim: Oh yeah  
Jim: A bunch  
Jim: Nothing you have to worry about though  
Jim: Probably

McCoy: ?????

Jim: [shrugging emoji]  
Jim: I have epipens  
Jim: But if I do pass out don’t let anyone give me a vaccination  
Jim: Or penicillin

McCoy: I’ll bear that in mind  
McCoy: Are tacos on the safe side?

Jim: Tacos are great

McCoy: Do you want to meet outside Blue Poblano?  
McCoy: 7?

Jim: [thumbs up emoji] Honestly sounds perfect

Then this morning (at a reasonable hour- he’s not cruel) Jim texted him again. He couldn’t help it. Gaila had been insufferable all morning. She’d even pulled one of the cashiers in on it. The kid barely spoke English but even he had teased the ever loving shit out of Jim for his pre-date giddyness.

Jim: My coworkers are bullying me for being so excited about our date  
Jim: I know it’s not very smooth to out myself like that but I am  
Jim: Excited, that is

He had already clocked out, pulled his hoodie on, and was walking to campus when he got the response.

McCoy: I’ve received my own amount of bullying for the exact same reason. Maybe we should form a committee? Make a PSA?

Jim gets tingly from his head to his toes just thinking about it. He’s an embarrassment. Eighteen-year-old Jim would be mortified. But honestly twenty-five-year-old Jim knows better. A man unselfconsciously admitting enthusiasm about _anything_ is a good sign. He’s done dating anyone under twenty one, probably forever.

His afternoon lecture is followed by an evening lab and he thanks past him for scheduling it that way. On a normal day he’d risk falling asleep if they were reversed. Today though- he’s jittery and his leg won’t stop jumping under the table. His fingers itch to check his phone even though he knows nothing will have changed.

The lab goes over by eight minutes and he almost has a heart attack.

It was going to be a crunch before but now he’s missed his usual train and he’s lost another ten minutes. Jim has enough time to get home and change before heading back downtown but not enough time to shower. He tells himself that it’s fine. It’s only a first date, after all. There’s no reason to suspect a first date with a real adult will end up in bed just because all of his previous dates have.

Right.

When he gets to the right street the sun has mostly set. Street lights are blinking on along the curved cobblestone street. The smell of the ocean is washing in with the breeze and mixing with the scents of food coming from the pubs and restaurants. It’s a gorgeous crisp autumn night.

He’s a few minutes early but as he approaches he can see McCoy waiting outside. The man is dressed casually, wearing jeans and a shirt jacket, but he doesn’t look relaxed. He seems to be checking his phone’s notifications screen every few seconds between scanning the crowds. Jim’s own nerves melt away a bit.

“Bones!”

McCoy peers in his direction, drawn to his voice. Jim waves and grins. McCoy’s face softens in relief. He pulls Jim into a quick hug. 

“Hey, hope you haven’t been waiting long.” 

“No, not at all,” McCoy says, though his cheeks are red and his ear was cold where it brushed Jim’s. “Hey did you say ‘bones’ to get my attention?”

Jim laughs and pulls up their texts on his phone.

“Yeah that’s your name, right? Don’t Jump His Bones or, you know, Bones for short.”

McCoy looks incredulous. 

“I have far too many names now. I’m gonna have to draw the line somewhere.”

Jim just shrugs and gives the man an impish smile. 

“Sorry Bones, my contact names are set in stone.”

McCoy shakes his head but his laugh crinkles his eyes.

They order at a counter inside the restaurant and seat themselves with their drinks while they wait. Jim, oddly, doesn’t feel like getting drunk on this date. He orders a tamarind drink they apparently make fresh and McCoy gets a coke.

“So how were classes?” McCoy asks from across their small table. Their knees are touching with how close they’re sitting. In the dark heat of the place it’s exhilarating.

Jim licks his lips before answering.

“Pretty average.” He thinks for a moment and then launches into a story his professor had told about an ancient cat who lived in a pottery studio.

“-and when they opened up the kiln there were two perfectly preserved tiny glass lungs.” He finishes, feeling a bit like a camp counselor telling a ghost story. It’s probably not great date material now that he thinks of it, a bit gruesome. McCoy doesn’t look shocked though, just thoughtful.

“I don’t think that’s possible,” McCoy says. “I mean if cat lungs are anything like human lungs that amount of silica would have killed it long before old age. Of course, I’m a doctor, not a vet but I still don't think-” 

He’s interrupted by their food being brought to the table. Jim ordered tacos al pastor and it smells amazing. McCoy’s carne asada is just as mouth watering so they have to agree to share.

With grease dripping down his fingers Jim asks, “So you’re from Georgia, right?”

McCoy’s face goes tight for just a fraction of a second before he takes a sip of his coke. Jim’s DON’T PUT YOUR FOOT IN IT senses tingle.

“Yeah, born and raised. I did medical school out here though. Stanford was pretty good to me.” Jim sees the smooth redirection and takes the hint. McCoy doesn’t want to talk about Georgia right now. He won’t push it.

“Oh wow, so you’re like, really smart, then?” Jim says instead.

McCoy laughs. 

“No, probably not that smart compared to a boy genius like you.”

They banter for a while and share their food. It’s warm and easy. McCoy has a bit of something on his cheek and Jim wipes it away with his thumb. The contact makes the other man startle a bit but the chuckle he gets afterwards is intimate.

He finds out McCoy is thirty four, used to play basketball, studied to be a surgeon but ended up in diagnostic, loves coca-cola and peach pie but doesn’t miss living in the south and, plot twist, that he has a five year old daughter named Joanna.

This last part he finds out by mistake and for a nerve wracking moment he’s afraid it will ruin their whole night. 

McCoy is going through his wallet to show him a Waffle House loyalty card to prove that yes they really do exist when a tiny picture of a little girl slips out. It’s like a bad scene in a movie, the way his face falls when Jim picks it up and asks who it is. Who even keeps photos in their wallets anymore?

McCoy explains that she’s his daughter and that she lives with his ex-wife in Georgia but that he’ll get to see her soon for Thanksgiving so it’s fine. Jim wants to protest that it really doesn’t seem fine at all but he knows it’s not his place. At least he knows now why the man didn’t want to talk about Georgia. At least in part. He vows to get them laughing again if he could but first he reaches for the man’s hand and squeezes.

“That’s really hard, Leonard. I can’t imagine.”

He knows it was the right thing to do when McCoy nods at him gratefully, eyes watery. They sit quietly like that for a while. Jim rubbing circles into McCoy’s wrist bone, McCoy holding Jim’s fingers where they curl into his palm. 

It’s McCoy who breaks the silence, clearing his throat to say, “Well I’m out of practice but I know that’s something you’re not supposed to do on a first date,” with a self deprecating little laugh.

“Talked about my divorce and my kid all in one go.”

Jim smiles wryly down at their empty plates.

“I can talk about my dead dad if it helps?”

McCoy chokes on his coke. 

“No?” Jim laughs. “Okay well, I like you. I have for a while. And I’ve really liked our date so far. I was kind of hoping it could go on a bit longer? Unless you’ve got somewhere else to be?”

Jim gets a raised eyebrow at that.

“Where else do you think I’d rather be?”

“Okay, okay. Well, I don’t know if you do late night caffeine but there’s a tiny espresso shop a few streets over inside a bookshop. And there’s a little park near there- the one where they do plays in the summer, you know, right by the docks? Maybe we could take a walk? Breathe in some bay air?”

McCoy gives him a long look Jim can’t parse out but he agrees.

They each have a doubleshot in a paper cup in one hand but the fingers of their other hands are intertwined. As they walk through the park Jim soaks up the warmth of McCoy’s hand in his. He thinks about six months ago when the man moved here, how tired he had looked every morning and yet he was always kind and considerate with Jim. He thinks about the heat in McCoy’s eyes when they flirted yesterday morning and his stomach flips.

There’s grass and trees and a brick fountain that’s been shut off and has leaves mucking up the bottom. It’s unremarkable except for where the water sparkles through the wrought iron fence at the perimeter.

There are lampposts illuminating the end of the nearest dock so that as they stroll over the wooden planks Jim can see his breath fog in the air. In the distance there’s thumping music and people whooping at some warehouse party. It sounds fun but Jim is perfectly content where he is.

“Do you wanna hear something funny?” McCoy says quietly, looking out over the dark water, its glistening reflections. “We actually have an espresso bar on my wing of the hospital. There’s a barista and everything ans it’s free to staff.” 

Jim turns to him, alarmed.

“I didn’t know about it that first week, nobody thought to tell me, but by then it was too late. I already had a favorite coffee shop. With a gorgeous barista who let me sulk and grump and be tired and smiled his megawatt sunshine smile at me anyway.”

Jim gulps. That’s- that’s a sucker punch of a confession.

“You’ve been buying Americanos everyday for six months when you could get them for free? Just because of me!?” On paper it could be creepy but that's the farthest thing from his mind right now. There's always been a good chemistry between them, surely McCoy had caught on.

McCoy looks sheepish, he ducks his head. Importantly though, he doesn’t let go of Jim’s hand.

“That’s really- No one’s ever- Bones!” A swelling wave of tenderness is choking Jim. He needs to do something.

He sets down his espresso on the railing and cups McCoy’s face. Their eyes meet and god, who is McCoy calling gorgeous- does this man not have a mirror?

Slowly, to prove it’s not a snap decision, that he _means_ it, Jim leans in and kisses him. His mouth is bitter and sweet with the coffee. His lips are soft and hot. His sigh is _everything_. The man's cool fingers at the back of his neck make him shiver pleasantly.

“So,” Jim whispers in a daze, “are you going anywhere on this vacation of yours?”

McCoy grins.

“Just out with you, if you’ll have me.”

And oh- Jim would _love_ to have him.


End file.
